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Jerry Amernic: The downfall of Canada’s military

Providing they have buttresses like your old one, maybe not. On the other hand, the dairy across the road…..

Forget the Dairy... I just found out that the Wendy's Drive through across the street has potatoes. Real baked potatoes.

Now that's disaster survival food.

My inner Irishman is keening ;)
 
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So are you saying that there is money for new armouries and drill halls? Because 33 Fd art has been living in tents, iso trailers and sprung shelters for some time (years) at uplands and would welcome the news.
Do you mean 33 Field Ambulance, because 33rd Field Artillery Regiment was placed on the supplementary order of battle in 1965?
 
I suspect they all have one.

Emergency Management and Civil Protection Act (Ontario):

Municipal emergency management programs

2.1 (1) Every municipality shall develop and implement an emergency management program and the council of the municipality shall by by-law adopt the emergency management program. 2002, c. 14, s. 4.
 
They're talking about 30Fd Regt RCA, whose home collapsed, and was replaced with a new facility for only HMCS Carleton.

Temporary structure, however, is sometimes viewed as preferable to sharing with another unit.
 
They're talking about 30Fd Regt RCA, whose home collapsed, and was replaced with a new facility for only HMCS Carleton.

Temporary structure, however, is sometimes viewed as preferable to sharing with another unit.
That really depends on the unit that you would be sharing with.
 
The old brick armouries will be standing long after the new ones are gone.

But this is the world we live in. We can't work in an old building nope we need a new one. So they put the new in an out of the way place. But with good parking. But then enlistment is down...hmmmm...wonder why because no one even knows there's a unit in town. No community engagement. Yup close close the HMCS stone frigate....put new one in an out of the way place. (Let the old one become an eyesore) look no one's joining up. No one riding the bus in uniform to the armory. So no kids see them and say that look interesting that guy is doing something interesting in a uniform. (Workedfor me and some friends)

Everyone complains about the many little cap badges and tiny regiments in the reserve system. Start using it as a positive not a negative. Engage with the city and community, the schools etc. This is the Royal bla bla that did this. Would you like to be a part of this?

The public so rarely sees anyone in uniform now they have to put out a news flash that a unit is training in the area the public many see a largish green truck....don't be scared. Unbelievable. There was a time a unit ran around the downtown core with arms and everything. I remember them breaking out the snow shoes when it snowed like 1 to 2 inches and marching around downtown with whites and rifles.
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Armoury. Built 1078. Still in service.

 
They're talking about 30Fd Regt RCA, whose home collapsed, and was replaced with a new facility for only HMCS Carleton.

Temporary structure, however, is sometimes viewed as preferable to sharing with another unit.
The Nav Res told 30th field at the time to find a new home if I recall at the time.
 
That was a bone of contention, and can't say what happened in the past 2 or 3 years. When I was with DLI, MND made the big announcement about strengthening the army reserve which was supposed to mean cash for the reserves.... what it really meant was that RP Ops would account armoury projects separately to account for reserve spending, so no actual cash. I am aware of 33 Fd Arty, as I did visit to take a look at the time. While the need is there, I don't recall the status of the project if it existed. I remember at the time there was a focus on finding accommodations for the Alta Vista occupants because of the fact that we were divesting that building... ongoing for almost 20 years at the time.

So briefly, is there money? I can't say that there are current funded projects. However, ADM(IE) is/was working on a armoury rationalization plan as well as establishing a baseline unit entitlement (last standards were 30 years old I think). These were in process when I was working in the DLI. That said, the expectation is that funds would follow those studies, which would examine the major cities. NCR was one of them, so who could say? The intent is there, whether the money will follow is another issue. But even assuming there are approved funds, it will take time to design unless we go with a site adapt, but that can lead to its own issues as what was designed for one unit(s) may not work for another.
So this goes back to my point that the CAF isn’t serious about new armouries. I think the « units don’t want to move » is a convieniant excuse.

No money. It’s that simple. 30th Fd and 33 CBG are perfect examples of willing units but the money nor the will from higher is there. And there are more that would be more than happy to have functional infrastructure.
 
So this goes back to my point that the CAF isn’t serious about new armouries. I think the « units don’t want to move » is a convieniant excuse.

No money. It’s that simple. 30th Fd and 33 CBG are perfect examples of willing units but the money nor the will from higher is there. And there are more that would be more than happy to have functional infrastructure.

As I said before, the resistance to move is for particular units. Obviously for units like yours which are accommodated in "temporary" infrastructure, money is part of it as well as a desire to find a solution to all the NCR units.
 
So this goes back to my point that the CAF isn’t serious about new armouries. I think the « units don’t want to move » is a convieniant excuse.

No money. It’s that simple. 30th Fd and 33 CBG are perfect examples of willing units but the money nor the will from higher is there. And there are more that would be more than happy to have functional infrastructure.
For the the CAF to get serious about armouries it first have get serious about the Reserves. Come to think of it it would have to get serious about itself .
 
the resistance to move is for particular units

When I wrote about asking the people who work there, I meant all of them, right down to the newly joined untrained privates. If they mostly all say, "Gee, we love these old digs", then the resistance can be blamed on "the unit". But if it's just the "command team" and a few of the other most senior officer and NCOs, then notice should be taken of people complaining about unsafe/inconvenient/unsuitable workplaces. I suppose there must be other federal employees who have to put up with sh!t workplaces, but how widespread is that?
 
We have had a whole society working on-line for a couple of years now. We have a generation (or 3) who now JFGI as a first course of action. MMORPGs are played universally by kids from 6 to 66. Zoom is a thing. People go to gyms in strip malls in suburbia. Business development centres and incubators are found in every major city. There are indoor ranges that don't threaten the longevity of the shooters due to lead poisoning. Parking is nice to have but is often in the vicinity and not on site.

Armouries could be Military Incubators tied into the community. Places where people can congregate when they have to, a focal point. A place for the occasional muster and where small teams can assemble and learn and plan together. Places where kit can be safely secured. Places with gyms and climbing walls. And all of those things can be done in the existing buildings.

Open ranges in the area would be a better use of dollars as would training in the community.

We don't need new buildings. We need to effectively invest in what we have.
 
We have had a whole society working on-line for a couple of years now. We have a generation (or 3) who now JFGI as a first course of action. MMORPGs are played universally by kids from 6 to 66. Zoom is a thing. People go to gyms in strip malls in suburbia. Business development centres and incubators are found in every major city. There are indoor ranges that don't threaten the longevity of the shooters due to lead poisoning. Parking is nice to have but is often in the vicinity and not on site.

Armouries could be Military Incubators tied into the community. Places where people can congregate when they have to, a focal point. A place for the occasional muster and where small teams can assemble and learn and plan together. Places where kit can be safely secured. Places with gyms and climbing walls. And all of those things can be done in the existing buildings.

Open ranges in the area would be a better use of dollars as would training in the community.

We don't need new buildings. We need to effectively invest in what we have.
So, like a federal community centre?

When you say "open ranges", do you mean outdoor, or open to the public? If the former, for large cities it would be a long drive. If the latter, I could hear Toronto urban heads exploding from here - and I'm two hours away.

For large urban downtown armouries, parking would definitely be a problem; although there is usually transit. Parking for green vehicles would still have to be considered.
 
We have had a whole society working on-line for a couple of years now. We have a generation (or 3) who now JFGI as a first course of action. MMORPGs are played universally by kids from 6 to 66. Zoom is a thing. People go to gyms in strip malls in suburbia. Business development centres and incubators are found in every major city. There are indoor ranges that don't threaten the longevity of the shooters due to lead poisoning. Parking is nice to have but is often in the vicinity and not on site.

Armouries could be Military Incubators tied into the community. Places where people can congregate when they have to, a focal point. A place for the occasional muster and where small teams can assemble and learn and plan together. Places where kit can be safely secured. Places with gyms and climbing walls. And all of those things can be done in the existing buildings.

Open ranges in the area would be a better use of dollars as would training in the community.

We don't need new buildings. We need to effectively invest in what we have.
Government of Canada security policy has entered the chat…
 
Government of Canada security policy has entered the chat…

I recall a joyless discussion with a CO who had invested thousands in gear for a regimental kit store, based in the armoury, and who was angry that we hadn't sold anything.

I asked him if he rememebered the civvy he threw out of the armoury, in a very rude fashion, the week before.

'How did you know about that?" he asked me.

I replied "He's a client of mine and told me about it. He's a retired Deputy Minister, who used to be a regimental UOTP Officer, and was in here looking for a regimental tie when you kicked him out."

The local CANEX now sells our regimental t-shirts etc.
 
With a primarily part-time workforce, dedicating resources to running poor quality retail outlets is a waste of time and effort. Going from an outlet open one night a week (sometimes) to one available online 24/7 is a material improvement.
 
So, like a federal community centre?

When you say "open ranges", do you mean outdoor, or open to the public? If the former, for large cities it would be a long drive. If the latter, I could hear Toronto urban heads exploding from here - and I'm two hours away.

For large urban downtown armouries, parking would definitely be a problem; although there is usually transit. Parking for green vehicles would still have to be considered.

Definitely outdoor ranges. I've also played around with the notion of "public" ranges - as a training and recruiting tool.

As to transportation - if troops have to take transit into the downtown to get to the armouries does that mean that they live in suburbia - closer to potential ranges and areas where there is a more supportive population?
 
Definitely outdoor ranges. I've also played around with the notion of "public" ranges - as a training and recruiting tool.

As to transportation - if troops have to take transit into the downtown to get to the armouries does that mean that they live in suburbia - closer to potential ranges and areas where there is a more supportive population?
An 18 year old may not own a car. Most don't. Like said earlier I remember seeing members in uniform on the bus going to the downtown armoury. Thought wow that looks cool.
 
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